The LSUA Foundation has received a philanthropic contribution from six community partners – RoyOMartin, Rapides Regional Medical Center, CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital, Central Management, Magnolia Management, and the Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital – to fund a nursing expansion program at LSU of Alexandria. Each partner has committed to an annual gift for four years, for a total philanthropic commitment of $460,000. LSUA is enthusiastically naming this newly established program CENLA Nurses for the Future.

The extraordinary commitment from these community partners enabled LSUA to retain Ms. Laurie Pittman, MSN, RN in January as an additional faculty member, thereby increasing the number of students able to enroll in the Associate of Science in Nursing curriculum. The Central Louisiana region is currently experiencing a critical nursing shortage. LSUA has expanded enrollment in the nursing field in response to this need. The new CENLA Nurses for the Future program allows LSUA to admit an additional 40 nursing students per year, which will lead to an increased number of registered nurses in the local workforce.

The nursing faculty at LSUA is committed to educating students as effective members of the health care team, for the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered healthcare. Nursing students will also be provided valuable scholarship opportunities in the CENLA Nurses for the Future program. The positive impact on both LSUA students and the Central Louisiana region as a whole will be substantial.

The National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) is the nationwide examination for the licensing of nurses in the United States. According to the National Council of State Board in Nursing, the year-to-date national average for first-time testing on the NCLEX among associate degree nursing programs is 84.24 percent. LSUA and the Department of Nursing are proud to announce an average year-to-year pass rate of around 94 percent, with a perfect 100 percent passing rate in May 2018. Our local healthcare agencies recognize that LSUA produces nurses of the highest caliber.

"We are extremely appreciative of and thankful for the leadership and support provided by our partners who have stepped up to the plate to directly address the nursing shortage across Central Louisiana,” says Dr. Paul Coreil, Chancellor, LSUA. “LSUA will do everything possible to ensure this much-needed additional support is put to direct use in recruiting qualified students; and ultimately graduating an increased number of well-trained nurses seeking a lifelong career providing critical nursing care for all CENLA families.”